Of One Mind
by Silver Hearted
Summary: When Rukia is fatally wounded, Ichigo is willing to do whatever it takes to save her. The consequences of his decision just might change them forever. Ichi-Ruki goodness of course. Rated T for now.


**Whew, it feels good to return to my main paring. I've been sitting on this story for awhile (over a year), but sudden inspiration and a craving for reviews convinced me to finally get working on it again.**

**Disclaimer: the plot's mine, but if the characters were too then they would have been reunited in the manga a long time ago.**

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><p><em>Of One Mind - One<em>

At the sound of Chappy's ringtone being played across the room, Ichigo's head popped up from the mounds of homework that threatened to overwhelm him on a daily basis.

"Hollow or just a message?"

More noise sounded as Rukia clicked away on her phone. Abruptly, she snapped it shut and said, "Hollow. It's at your sisters' elementary school."

"Yuzu and Karin's?"

"No, the other sister you have of elementary age who goes to a completely _different_ school." She smacked him on the head as she ambled her way from his bed to the closet. "Are we going or what?"

She slipped from her gigai and hoisted it onto the stack of bedding. Ichigo glared stubbornly at her while her back was turned but listened nonetheless. With one violent shove against his chest, his shinigami badge separated his spirit from his body.

From that point on, the pair were like a well oiled machine. No words were needed as the two jumped out his window. Upon landing, Ichigo automatically held out his hand to help hoist her on his back. And, without a second thought, she clambered up.

In a display of shunpo at its best, he set off.

The school was close enough and the hollow was anything but discreet as it stormed around the playground, preying on hapless teeter-totters and monkey bars. Upon sensing the shinigami, the creature let out an unholy roar, giant pincers snapping and spittle flying from its gaping maw.

Like a veritable scorpion from hell, the hollow flung its stinger at them. The two flew off in opposite directions leaving the appendage to loge itself deeply in the ground.

Ichigo and Rukia looped around from different sides, both aiming to get an attack on the hollow from behind. Instead, the creature used its stinger like the center of an axis and swung to the side, its head like a battering ram as it slammed into Rukia.

The breath was knocked out of her and left her gasping as she rebounded off a high, chain-link fence. As she was distracted, Ichigo managed to cut off the hollow's pincer on its left side, leaving the creature severely handicapped and with a distinct tilt as it moved.

With the hollow now slightly disadvantaged, Ichigo allowed his focus to shift. "Rukia, you okay?" He was by her side in an instant, directing her to sit down with her head between her knees.

Being her usual obstinate self, she shoved him away and forced her legs to support her as she stood. "Don't be stupid, Ichigo. This is a battle; I'm not sitting out right in the middle of it. Now lets just get back out there. I'm perfectly fine."

Despite her brave words, she could feel his worried gaze lingering on her rather than their current foe. Gritting her teeth, she tightened her grip on Sode no Shirayuki and launched into the fray once more.

So focused were the two on their respective primary concerns, Ichigo for Rukia's health and Rukia for putting an end to the hollow, that they both failed to notice the spirit looming closer from behind.

Needless to say, Ichigo was beyond shocked when he was glomped by an obviously well-endowed woman. The sudden feminine stranglehold he could handle, it was the screeching in his ear that followed that put him on edge.

"Oh, help me! You have to save me! I must be asleep, but I can't see to wake up and pinching myself doesn't _work_!" The last word came out in a wail so high pitched that it can only be described as jarring. It reclaimed the hollow's attention and seemed to give it strength enough to pull its stinger free. As the creature rushed at them, completely ignoring Rukia's attempts to hack at it, the spirit shrieked again and pulled back on Ichigo, toppling them over due to the weight imbalance brought on by her massive bust and a fierce desire to sacrifice the shinigami substitute in the name of human shields everywhere.

As Ichigo tried in vain to pry off the death grip she had around his torso, the hollow struck out with a fatal blow.

"ICHIGO!" Rukia flew towards him at shunpo speeds she rarely attained, the creature still wholly unconcerned with her presence.

Understanding dawned in Ichigo's eyes the precise moment before, centered directly in his vision, he watched as Rukia was skewed alive by the hollow's remaining pincer.

The one that had been meant for him.

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><p><strong>It's strangely gratifying to leave people with a cliffhanger when you're the author.<strong>

**Remember, reviews = love. **


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